Taylor Swift is coming to Los Angeles…but not if local hotel workers can help it. They are calling on the popular singer to show solidarity by boycotting her LA concerts.
Hotel Workers Ask Taylor Swift To Support Them By Skipping Los Angeles Concerts
15,000 hotel workers are currently on strike for higher wages in Los Angeles and Orange counties, after a collective bargaining contract expired late last month. On Thursday, hundreds gathered at the Hyatt Regency LAX with a peculiar message: Taylor Swift, stay away.
Swift is scheduled to visit Southern California for a week next month and perform at SoFi Stadium, located right down the road from Los Angeles International Airport. Hotel workers are encouraging her to stay away in support of their cause:
“Taylor, make this your solidarity era.”
The upcoming tour has pushed room rates higher throughout Los Angeles, though particularly around the concert venue (prices are up 14% and 20% over the same period last year). Occupancy is also higher this year than last year and is expected to rise dramatically ahead of the concerts.
Swift’s Eras tour, which began in March, has boosted each local economy where she has performed. STR, a research firm, reports that Swift’s tours have generated $98.2 million in hotel room revenue.
Among the speakers at Thursday’s rally was Alaink Kemple, a personal concierge at Waldorf-Astoria Beverly Hills. Kemple laments that before the pandemic, the Waldorf had 27 members of the concierge team. Now it has only six. He told the LA Times, “I do the job of five people.… I’m only paid for one. We are tired of the abuse, the overwork and the disrespect.”
At the rally, Kemple grabbed hold of a microphone and offered the following plea to Swift:
“I want to ask a very difficult but very important question to all the Swifties around the world and to Taylor herself. Please honor our struggle.”
Unite Here Local 11 co-President Kurt Petersen was less diplomatic:
“Taylor, the choice is simple. On the one hand, we have the sacrifice, solidarity, and courage of these workers, on the other, the boundless greed of these rapacious corporations.…Which side are you on?”
Swift has not made her intentions clear. Her series of six concerts starts on August 3, 2023.
CONCLUSION
Hotel workers in Los Angeles have latched onto Taylor Swift’s upcoming visit and asked the singer to take their side by staying out of Los Angeles. Swift, who is performing in the Bay Area this weekend, has not responded to these demands.
image: Eva Rinaldi
Yea, that’s not happening. Way too much money to be maid (get it?) to walk away from.
Plus cancelling the shows would hurt other workers at and around the events. These shows bring tens of millions of residual dollars to town.
Also Inglewood (where SoFi is located) is a separate city from LA. Her concert brings money to the county and indirectly LA city, but the show is outside city limits.
Maybe she will cancel the entire tour in support of hotel guests worldwide who have been impacted by Elite benefits being withheld.
If those employees are overworked and don’t feel appreciated, why don’t they get jobs elsewhere? Most of us do that if we don’t like what we are doing.
Has anyone stayed in LA recently? The hotel service is better than ever without these woke Leftie lunatics. So stay the hell on strike, we don’t care about you. If you don’t like your job, or want more money, find another job you lazy bastards.
Spoiler alert: people on both sides of the political aisle are on strike.
Zack and Robbo –I agree with you The horrid thing about the union demands is that they want to kick out the paying customers to accommodate the HOMELESS….. Do they realize the homeless as hotel customers trash the rooms, and make a mess and more work for the housekeeping department??? DO they realize what they are asking for????
What is with the ultimatum made by the union if your not with United Here than you must be with the boundless greed of corporations.
What about fans who are from out of town, those who have purchased hotel room, purchased airfare and other things in preparation for these concerts? What about the workers in other industries aside from the hotel industry where small mom and pop business are looking to these concerts to help bolster their bottom line and help their employees. United Here only concern is having hotels hire more employees because the more employees hotels hire the more people United Here has paying union dues which equals more money in United Here’s pockets. From my perspective it would appear as though United Here has more in common with corporate greed than they want us to believe.
Or it could be they are campaigning for better and more fair working conditions?
Then go on strike. To issue an ultimatum to Taylor Swift that not only would effect her but more importantly hundreds of other workers including workers who build the sets at these areas, concession stand workers, janitors at the arena, security staff at the arena, then not to mention the countless number of workers in other industries that are depending on these concerts to bolster their bottom line and help out there employees.
What about all those workers who have absolutely nothing to do with United Here their work conditions and pay won’t improve if Taylor were to cancel her concerts. Look at the writers strike in Hollywood everyone is so focus on the writers no one seems to care about all the other behind the scenes workers who now don’t have a pay check at all. How are those employees working conditions. If Taylor were to cancel her concerts the economic blow would be more devastating to a lot more industries than and a lot more people than United Here would care to mention.
Um, they are on strike. The article clearly says so,
Also, what ultimatum? They are simply asking her, nothing else.
Well this article didn’t age well at all.
Days after this article as Taylor is wrapping up her tour here in the United States we learn that she gave all of the people who worked on this tour a combined $50 million dollar bonus including giving $100,000 dollars to every single truck driver.
United Here President stated “Taylor, the choice is simple. On the one hand, we have the sacrifice, solidarity, and courage of these workers, on the other, the boundless greed of these rapacious corporations.…Which side are you on?” I think she has made it abundantly clear she is on the side of the workers because thus far no other celebrity has ever given tour workers a combined $50 million dollar bonus this is in addition to their normal salary.
That is exactly what needs to take place in order to end corporation greed. City officials, congress make selfish decisions behind to term ” for the people “. We the people are finally getting together to fight for the right to live better! We the people are struggling and fed up with being pushed to poverty. This is only the beginning the fight will get bigger and our unity is only getting stronger, wait and see. POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
Taylor has nothing to do with their need. If they want to picket hotels then people may decide to honor the lines.
Swift is pretty much the quintessential good person but I don’t see her abrogating her contractual obligations or screwing over her fans that paid ginormous amounts to see her in L.A.. I genuinely sympathize with the people on strike but they might do better asking for an attainable goal.
Where is Every Hills?
Taylor’s parents scan for her,her email, internet, she does not read these things,her parents do and then infirm her if they deem important.
Every special interest group (union, corporation, lobbyist, mayor, etc) has infused politics in every aspect of American life.
If someone wants to strike, go ahead. Someone wants to advocate certain rights or privileges, more power to you. You want a pay raise, picket to your heart’s content.
However, there’s way too many options, alternatives, market forces, and work arounds in this world as compared to just 20 years ago. Stop imposing on me just so you can get that extra $5 tip or infring on my livelihood, my property, and my privacy.
The worse thing in any business or politics is to price yourself out of the market compared to what you provide. Think the Big 3; legacy air carriers; TV networks and radio; newspapers & magazines; cable; and the state of affairs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas or any big city in general.
Be careful for what you ask for, you just might get it….as well a pink slip from your employer or booted out of office in the next election.